In a letter to the ruling party legislators, NC chief whip Mubarik Gul has said that Abdullah will chair the meeting at Fairview, the official residence of Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, along Srinagar’s picturesque Gupkar Road.
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called an “important” meeting of MLAs of his National Conference (NC) and those of its alliance partners in Srinagar on Friday morning.
In a letter to the ruling party legislators, NC chief whip Mubarik Gul has said that Abdullah will chair the meeting at Fairview, the official residence of Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, along Srinagar’s picturesque Gupkar Road.
Though the agenda of the meeting remains undisclosed, it has been convened by Mr. Abdullah who is also the vice president of the NC amid reports suggesting that he is “very upset” at Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha’s, “bossiness” and his repeatedly trying to run the Chief Minister’s office down by taking important administrative decisions, the latest being the transfers and postings of 48 J&K Administrative Service officers (JKAS).
Earlier this week, the J&K General Administration Department (GAD) had, in a major administrative rejig, ordered the transfer and posting of these JKAS officers including 14 additional deputy commissioners and 26 sub-divisional magistrates after receiving a directive from the L-G’s office.
The move is being seen by many including those within the NC and its alliance partners-Congress and CPIM- a deliberate attempt by Mr. Sinha to take full control of the bureaucracy.
Senior journalist and political analyst Peerzada Ashiq wrote on ‘X’, “J&K L-G's latest transfer order has given a long rope to anti-J&K and anti-mainstream officers in the system. Officers who became face of the 2019 dispossession and persecution will only take forward their anti-people agenda. Election was not for filling vacant seats of the assembly.” Opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti reposted it.
Congress leader and General Secretary AICC Ghulam Ahmad Mir criticised the Lt. Governor’s move and said that he should have awaited the approval of business rules before announcing it.
Last month, the J&K Cabinet headed by Mr. Abdullah had finalised the business rules and subsequently submitted these to the Lt. Governor for his approval. The Chief Minister had said that since J&K continued to be a Union Territory and the demand of restoring statehood to it had not been conceded by the Centre yet, it was necessary to establish business rules for clarity. He had hoped that the Lt. Governor would approve these to facilitate smooth governance without confusion. Mr. Sinha, in turn, had reportedly sent the business rules approved by the Cabinet to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) whose nod is still awaited.
Mr. Mir who is also a member of the Congress CWC and serves as the Legislature Party leader in J&K Assembly said, “It would have been advisable for the L-G to wait a while as the business rules are pending approval. He should have been more patient”. He pointed out that, as per the existing business rules, the transfer or posting of JKAS officers falls under the Chief Minister's domain whereas such decisions with regard to the IAS officers can be taken by the Lt. Governor.
Weeks before J&K Assembly elections were held in September-October last year, the MHA had extended the ambit of jurisdiction of J&K Lt. Governor’s powers by amending the Transaction of Business Rules. The July 12 move, amending the transaction of business of the Government of Union Territory of J&K Rules, 2019, were aimed at strengthening the role of the Lt. Governor in maintaining law and order and making him more potent towards decision-making in administrative matters.
According to amendments made by the MHA, the proposals relating to transfer of administrative secretaries and cadre posts of All India Service (AIS) officers shall be submitted to the L-G by the administrative secretary, General Administration Department through the Chief Secretary. “Provided also that in respect of matters connected with posting and transfer of Administrative Secretaries and cadre posts of All India Services
The situation in which the Lt. Government enjoys more powers than the Chief Minister in many ways was seen by the critics as akin to Delhi; hence vehemently criticised by the opposition parties including Congress and NC.
The Chief Minister had repeatedly said that he or his government or party does not want to fight the Centre or Lt. Governor appointed by it as the constitutional head of the Union territory but walk together with them “to solve the problems faced by our people.” But some of his party men believe he is being pushed to the wall. “Also, some of the L-G’s moves are embarrassing for the Chief Minister and apparently aimed at denting his image in the public,” said a NC lawmaker who spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity. However, he hastened to add, “I don’t know if Omar Sahab has called the MLAs’ meeting to discuss this issue or something else.”